Soil’s secret language

Soil’s secret language

Researchers decode plant-to-fungi communication

University of Toronto researchers have cracked the code of plant-to-fungi communication in a new study using baker’s yeast. The researchers discovered that the plant hormone strigolactone activates fungal genes and proteins associated with phosphate metabolism, a system that is key to plant growth.

Resistant waterhemp has been increasing its presence in southwestern Ontario.

Study shows multiple routes to herbicide resistance

A team including evolutionary biologists from the University of Toronto have identified the ways in which herbicide-resistant strains of invasive common waterhemp have emerged in fields of soy and corn in southwestern Ontario. They found that the resistance, which was first detected in Ontario in 2010, has spread thanks to two mechanisms: Pollen and seeds […] Read more


Wheat is one of four crops including soybeans, corn and rice, that make up about half of the agriculture land in use on the planet.

Crop diversity declining worldwide

Science Notes: The number of different crops is increasing in North America but other regions are moving more toward monocultures

University of Toronto – A new University of Toronto study suggests that globally more of the same kinds of crops are being grown, and this presents major challenges for agricultural sustainability on a global scale. The study, by an international team of researchers led by University of Toronto assistant professor Adam Martin, used data from […] Read more